


Quynh.

by Quecksilver_Eyes



Series: We're not meant to be alone [11]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst, Drowning, F/F, Temporary Character Death, and then another still, graphic descriptions of drowning, in which quynh spends an age submerged in blood and iron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26460730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quecksilver_Eyes/pseuds/Quecksilver_Eyes
Summary: once, Quynh spent an age with broken bones and her voice; tied to her hollow bones. once, Quynh drowned as kingdoms rose and fell
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Quynh | Noriko, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova & Quynh | Noriko, Nile Freeman & Quynh | Noriko
Series: We're not meant to be alone [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906879
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	Quynh.

once, Quynh spent an age breathing salt water  
(500 years, Sébastien says, with a soft voice and softer hands)  
once, Quynh spent an age with broken bones and her voice;  
tied to her hollow bones  
(500 years, Nile says, with all her youth and all her life in between Quynh’s ragged teeth)  
once, Quynh drowned as kingdoms rose and fell

once, Andromache might have spent her life –  
looking for her.

once, Quynh has spent a hundred lifetimes drowning  
in tandem with her own panicked heart  
until she could barely remember the colour of Andromache’s eyes  
the touch of her lips.  
(500 years, Yusuf says, with paint smeared hands and Quynh’s heart at the tip of his tongue)  
once, Quynh screamed until her vocal chords broke  
and kept screaming; after.

once, Quynh could breathe nothing but her own blood;  
salt-heavy and bitter;  
and break her hollow bones.  
(500 years, Nicolo says, with his arms wrapped around her and his voice all tangled)  
once, Quynh lay shivering and tear-drowned in her love’s arms; shackled still.

once, all her life pulled her out from underneath the salt  
and held her safe and warm until she remembered her voice.  
once, Sébastien picked the shackles from her ankles  
and her wrists  
and her brackish lungs.

once, Quynh spent a hundred men’s lives  
with nothing but dreams.

now, she’s drowning in the sugar sticking to Andromache’s lips.

_– you are home. you are safe. keep the windows open and stand in the sweet rain until you can’t taste the salt on your lips anymore. eat until you can’t, anymore. laugh until your stomach hurts. take your love with your two good hands and never let it go._


End file.
